Knowing
by ItaminoHime
Summary: If Kiba were dead, Hinata would know. She always knew.


Ano... This is one of my ships. And I love this paring, and I decided to write a little 30 minute piece on it. I like the way this goes, and no, i'm not quitting To Plant A Seed, i'm just doing this for all of my naruto fans c: hehe. I haven't forgotten about you guys!

:Haruka:

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On the first day, when Tsunade brought the girl into her office, Hinata Hyuuga sat awkward. When Tsunade told her Kiba Inuzuka had gone missing in action, she laughed. It was a cold day in the dead of winter. When she left, she went straight to the village gates, ready to welcome the wild boy home. All day she waited, freezing in the snow. He never came.

Hinata sat shivering in the cold, early hours of the morning. Her black hair looked darker against her pale skin, and her lips were a slight shade of blue. It was only the second day. Footsteps behind her made the 23 year old turn. She looked up at none other than Naruto, who looked sullen. Hinata's breaths came out in huffs. Naruto bent down beside her, and helped the frozen girl off of the floor. "What are you doing out here?" He asked, and she was shaking as he held her in his arms.  
"I'm waiting on Kiba-kun." She shivered and Naruto looked haunted blue into her pale eyes.  
He held his head down low. "Hinata, he never came back." He whispered, and the girl's body went stiff.  
"Then he's running behind. It happens all the time." She said, broken syllables.  
Naruto looked to her, a foggy expression on his face. "Hinata. He got separated from the squad." He backed away slowly, and tears poured down his cheeks. "He's not going to come back."

Hinata shook her head vigorously and looked back to the gates.  
He was going to be okay.

Because if Kiba were dead, Hinata would know.

Tsunade announced that Kiba Inuzuka had died in action on the third day. It was a village meeting, and Hinata wasn't there. She sat in the snow, looking at the village gates with blue lips while his mother and sister sobbed.

Kiba wasn't dead.  
She would not cry.

She would not worry.

Because if Kiba were dead, she would know.

Many worried people came to see the Hyuuga heir on the fourth day, to try to pull her away from the gates. Only when Shino's hand was put on her shoulder, and the younger girl looked into dark glasses, did she return to her empty apartment. She sat there, looking out the window. The first thing Kiba always did when returning from a mission, was stop by her place and tell the young teacher he was back and alright. All day she waited, and still he never came.

On the fifth day, the snowfall was greater than any day before, nearly six inches of it. But there sat Hinata, deep in this snow, wearing less than any other day. She said she didn't need it, that this was the day he would come home. She sat in the freezing snow and negative temperatures, for the entire day. Everyone stopped to see if she were okay. She was perfectly fine.

Because if Kiba were dead, she would know.

Hinata sat out in the snow, watching the gates lonely on the sixth day. Someone's boots crunched under their feet, and she turned, not that shocked to see Kurenai. She knelt down beside her, and looked to her student's abnormally blue lips.  
"Hinata..." She whipsered, and the girl slowly looked to her teacher.  
She held out her hands, and Hinata took the items in them. It was Kiba's necklace, one with his clan's symbol and his lucky charm on to. It was one she made for him when she was 15. She looked up to her, and her teacher nodded slowly, sadly. "The search squad returned. They found these along with his Akamaru. He was fine, just had a bit of frost bite." She shook her head as she looked to the items in her hands.

"He's not dead." She said, and Kurenai looked at her with sad eyes.

"Hinata..." She whispered her name, and Hinata clenched her bare hands around the chain.

"He's not dead Kurenai." She repeated. She left the girl, broken in the snow.

Hinata barely taught the academy students on the seventh day, when she was forced back to work. Iruka helped the girl out with her class, and she was shaking and freezing despite the warm clothes she wore. Iruka understood, said it was despair. He said it was denial. It wasn't.

Because as she looked over her laughing class, her insides went colder than the snow outside.

If Kiba were dead, she would know.

On the eighth day, Hana Inuzuka came to the gates to check on Hinata that day. She knew what the girl was feeling, grieving and denying the loss of her best friend. She wasn't shocked to see Hinata leaning on the side of the gate, looking out into nothing. Hana slowly walked, and Hinata turned to her.

Only Hana's eyes were dead.

The older girl had lost her baby brother, her little runt of the litter. But whereas Hana had longing, and sadness, Hinata had absolute resolve, and certainly. The older girl only hugged Hinata close, and then left.

Hinata was certain.

Because if Kiba were dead, she would know.

On day nine, Tsunade deemed it necessary to hold a funeral for Inuzuka Kiba, even though they never found his body. Hinata refused to go, and stayed, sitting out in the snow, the necklace around her neck clicking softly. She looked down to the necklace with a sigh. She wouldn't cry. Because he wasn't dead.

On this day, Hinata and her father got into a fight. He was telling her over and over Kiba was dead, and he wasn't coming back. That was the only time Hinata ever raised her voice at anyone. She screamed at her father, telling him that Kiba wasn't dead.

She ran to the gates, freezing cold, but not caring. She bit her lip as she felt the prickle in her eyes. On the tenth day, she shed blood. She took a kunai out of her hostler, and slashed her palm. She watched as the blood fell to the snow, coating it crimson. It was like her tears, but she refused to shed those.

Kiba wouldn't want her to shed tears.

Because if her were really dead, she would know.

On the eleventh day, Hinata was at her home, Iruka taking over her position at the school. She refused to come out, and everyone said she was delusional. She wasn't. Naruto knocked slowly on her door, and she went to answer it. Naruto's eyes were red, suggesting he had been crying.

"How are you not sad, Hinata?" he asked, looking crying blue eyes up to hers. "He was one of my best friends, and yours too. How are you not sad?" he said, raising his voice. Hinata looked into those haunted eyes, and set her face. She would not cry. She wouldn't believe those horrid lies.  
"Because he's not dead." Naruto's face got red in anger.  
"How do you know?!" He screamed, and she only slowly shut the door in his face.

If he were really dead, she would know.

On day twelve, Hinata Hyuuga sat at the village gates, legs pulled to her chest, and her hand wrapped in gauze. She stared out into the woods, and just kept looking. She had already used all of her chakra with her byakugan.

Someone sat next to her, and she slowly turned, shocked to see the Hokage. Tsunade looked forward, and then slowly to Hinata. "He's not going to come back Hinata." She whipsered, and Tsunade's eyes flickered to the necklace Hinata wore.  
"Yes he is." She said, nodding to herself.  
"Who are you trying to convince Hinata?" the girl looked to the Hokage. "Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" She slowly stood, and looked down to the girl.

"Hinata. He's gone, and he's not going to come back." She told the girl as she left.  
Hinata pulled her knees closer to her chest. "He's not dead, because I would know."

On the thirteenth day, Hinata stayed home. She sat at her table, knees drawn to her chest, long black locks flowing down her shoulders as she looked dead eyes to her tea. She was cold, always so cold. There was frantic knocking on her door, and she slowly stood, swaying a bit. Her lips were blue, and she wore only her sleeping clothes.

She pulled open the door to see the painting chuunin. Her eyes went wide, and he nodded slowly. She pushed past him, barefoot and in the snow as she raced still in her pajama pants to Hokage tower. SHe pushed past everyone, and slammed into the door, her hands shaking to the point where she could barely open it. She slammed it open, and there stood Kiba.

He looked like hell, and Naruto was crying, and so was Kurenai. Her eyes went wide. Everyone slowly looked to the door, and there stood Hinata, clad in only her white and purple pajamas, tears pouring down her cheeks as her jaw hung open. Tsunade was in quite a shock.

She looked to Kiba, and his eyes were wide. Without a word, she turned, shut the door, and walked.

Hinata Hyuuga found herself standing in the snow, looking at the village gates. Footsteps made her tense, but she knew who it was.  
"If you stay out here too long, you're gonna freeze." She kept her vision forward, looking out at the snow covered woods.  
She took in a deep breath, and let it out. "I'm already frozen." Kiba looked to her, and her pale blue lips.  
"They said you never gave up hope." He whispered, sticking his cold hands into his pockets.  
She laughed, the sound hollow. "I never did." She whispered, and he stepped in front of her, shocked to see tears still raining down her face.

"You never told anyone why though." He looked to her, and grabbed her hand. His slit eyes went wide as he quickly undid his jacket, and crushed the girl to him, her arms around his waist as she cried. She wore no shoes, and Kiba was concerned. "Why are you out here?" She laughed into his chest. She breathed in the scent. There were no words to describe it. It was like the sun, warm and bright, and Hinata loved it. It was Kiba after all.

"I waited every day." She whispered, and he tried to gather the freezing girl into his arms. "I knew you weren't dead." She looked up at him, and he noticed his necklace around her neck.  
He swallowed and kept his arms around her, keeping her warm. "Why?" She laughed, and rested her forehead on his collarbone.  
"If something were to ever happen to you, i'd know." He looked up at the girl, who wasn't even stuttering.

He looked down at her, and laughed slightly. "I knew I had to make it back." She looked up at him, and he smiled. "I know you'd kick my ass if I didn't." She hugged him tighter, and he held her.

"How would you have known if I were dead Hinata?"  
She shook from the cold. "If someone you love dies Kiba, you would always feel it." She whispered as her embrace grew tighter.

"No matter how frozen you are."


End file.
